Correctional services van in two-vehicle crash

Handout photo courtesy Mark Vernarelli

Handout photo courtesy Mark Vernarelli

Joe Burris, The Baltimore Sun

A state correctional services van carrying six inmates and a correctional supervisor to a work detail on Tuesday morning was involved in two-vehicle collision that sent the passengers to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, corrections officials said.

The driver of the other vehicle went to the hospital as a precaution, said Mark Vernarelli, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS). He added that the incident occurred at Harford Road and Eager Street. The van, Vernarelli said, was carrying inmates from the Baltimore City Correctional Center on Greenmount Avenue.

Vernarelli said that the incident occurred a few blocks from the correctional center, where the van had departed en route to the detail a few minutes prior. Vernarelli said that impact of the crash sent the DPSCS van into the corner of the Latrobe Homes building, resulting in slight damage to the building.

Vernarelli said that one of the injured inmates suffered contusions and was sent to University of Maryland Shock Trauma. "Two inmates are being treated at Johns Hopkins: One has a broken leg, the other lacerations," Vernarelli said. The other inmates suffered cuts and bruises. All are still being evaluated and treated. The correctional officer was taken to Mercy with injuries consistent with an airbag deployment, according to Vernarelli.

"BCCC is a pre-release facility housing men who are about to return to society," said Vernarelli. "Many of the inmates work outside details. This crew was a Public Safety Works crew assigned to a city park."